The present invention generally relates to manufactured homes and, more particularly, to a garage/carport for manufactured homes.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) oversees the building codes for most manufactured homes, unlike site-built housing that is regulated by local building codes. HUD Code homes (a.k.a. mobile homes, manufactured homes, factory built homes, etc.) sell in the U.S. for a multitude of reasons. Most of these reasons are linked to the fact that it is far more efficient to build a home in a factory than on-site. However, for the most part, the HUD Code home factories have left the construction of a garage to on-site carpenters (as used herein, the term xe2x80x9cgaragexe2x80x9d includes both enclosed garages and semi-enclosed carports). This poses a few major problems.
In rural areas where many of HUD Code homes are sold, it is very difficult to locate and coordinate skilled craftsman to erect and complete any structure. Therefore, a factory built home without an accompanying factory built garage is only a partial solution.
Factory home/garage construction has several advantages over the site built alternative. First, the factory has enormous buying power which enables them to purchase building materials in bulk at a significant savings. Significantly, in the construction of HUD Code homes weather is not a factory and a manufacturing plant can even run multiple shifts in a single day if necessary because of their lighted interior workspace. On-site theft and degradation of materials to weather elements is greatly reduced. A controlled environment leads to a more stable workforce of skilled craftsmen since they are more likely to remain employed during the winter months. Furthermore, with the home and garage built at the same time, the result is a perfect match of shingles and siding which is sometimes difficult to achieve on-site. A factory built home with an attached factory built garage would be far more efficient with labor and materials than building the garage on-site, which would lead to lower cost for the consumer.
All HUD Code homes are built on top of some form of a frame. Usually this consists of two steel I-beams running parallel to one another along the longitudinal length of the home section. This is repeated for each section to be towed on the road. These I-beams, known as frame rails, provide a major portion of the home""s rigidity, enabling it to be transported without threat of a structural collapse. Once the home reaches its destination, the proper blocking is installed under the frame rails to ensure the home is level and well supported. The frame rails stay in place in relation to the rest of the home even after it has been placed on its foundation.
The concept of a factory built garage is not new. In a previous attempt by Commodore Corp. (displayed at the 2001 Louisville tradeshow), the frame rails extended through the integrally manufactured garage floor area and then a concrete floor was to be poured over them xe2x80x9con-site.xe2x80x9d This leads to making a mobile home very immobile and is undesirable for several other reasons. In this prior art design, the garage floor must be formed at least at the height of the top of the frame rails and can only be poured after the home and garage are installed upon their foundation. This prior art design therefore forces the level of the garage floor to be equal to the level of the home""s floor, which is typically significantly above grade. This causes difficulties in transitioning from the driveway surface level to the garage floor level. Furthermore, this design requires pouring the garage floor concrete after the home has been set on the foundation. Because installation crews are often non-local contractors who prefer to complete the set up of each home very quickly having to pour the garage floor after set up causes scheduling concerns.
Both Delk in U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,512 and Latimer in U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,207 refer to mobile homes and garages specifically. However, both patents reflect improvements in home design or layout and state that the garage is to be built xe2x80x9con-site.xe2x80x9d Neither patent shows a factory-built garage.
The mobile home with integral garage in U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,716 to Renaud shows what could better be referred to as a recreational vehicle with rear area in which an automobile can be transported. This also does not reflect a HUD Code home.
Bigelow in U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,529 displays a prefabricated, fold-out house that is transported in a box which will later serve as a garage or large room. Although it could be inferred that the prefabricated house is built in a factory, there is no mention of frame rails and the spirit of the Bigelow invention is more one of panelized home construction concepts.
There is therefore a need for a HUD Code home design that includes a factory-built garage, but which avoids the problems inherent in the prior art designs. The present invention is directed toward meeting this need.
In the present invention, a removable support member factory built garage/carport has a design that allows for the support members and associated support structures to be removed from the garage area during the installation process. During this process, the weight of the garage is transferred to the foundation and then the garage support members are removed from the garage area while the frame rails are left intact under the home. This allows the concrete garage floor to be poured at any desired level, irrespective of the level of the top of the home""s frame rails. Also, the garage floor slab can be poured prior to arrival of the home on-site.
In the present invention, the garage is built at the factory side by side, as one integral unit, with the home on garage support members which couple to the home frame rails. During the initial construction, it is most advantageous for the set-up crew if there is a break between the frame rails and the garage support structure using bolts and side plates (although several other procedures would achieve the desired affect). The garage itself is then constructed atop the garage support members and support member outriggers in a temporary manner so as to give support during transit but allowing for the eventual removal of the garage support members and support member outriggers during installation of the home. Upon the arrival at its destination, the home is set-up in the same fashion as an ordinary HUD home. For most applications, the garage is most desirable if built with perimeter walls that are xe2x80x9ctelescopicxe2x80x9d on the bottom to accommodate varying foundation heights. As is known in the art, this can be achieved with a special metal stud or with wood construction. This telescopic wall is lowered, then fixed in place to receive the weight of the garage itself before the garage support members are removed. If desired, this design would permit the reattachment of the garage support members so the home could be transported again.
The garage support member removal is best achieved by removing the bolts of the side-plates holding the frame rails under the home to support members under the garage. Also, it may be desirable to the installer if there were multiple breaks in each support member. This would give each segment a more manageable size. However, other methods can be employed to remove the support members from the garage area. These other methods include the use of a cutting torch, metal cutting saw, a multitude of quick attach methods, or simply removing bolts in a xe2x80x9cstep-down framexe2x80x9d version of this design, etc. This invention can have many variations. The garage structure can be on the front or end of a home. The garage support members can be attached in-line, side-by-side, or step-down in relation to the permanent home frame rails. Also, when the garage support member is removed, it is to be assumed that obvious auxiliary support structures will also be removed (i.e. support member outriggers, temporary floor joist, bracing material, support member crossmembers). Furthermore, each support member frame section could be swung or hinged up onto a sidewall so as to xe2x80x9cmovexe2x80x9d the garage support member and not xe2x80x9cremovexe2x80x9d the garage support member for convenient storage. The garage can be of any size and on any size of home (single or multi-section, one or multiple story). The garage can also employ a multitude of building materials. Also, the process of filling the xe2x80x9cvoidxe2x80x9d between the garage and the foundation can take many forms (i.e. telescoping studs, knee wall, etc.). Although, some configurations designed to be placed upon crawl space or basement foundations would not require a telescopic wall. Furthermore, this garage could simply be considered a carport if the door were omitted or posts were put in place instead of a wall to receive the weight of the structure as the support members were moved.